Thursday, July 2, 2015

KAWECO BRASS SPORT REVIEW

Brass. Probably the most underappreciated metal alloy in the pen industry. It's actually a pretty common material for making pens, that's not really the issue. The problem is that most brass pens get covered up with a layer of laquer or resin! Kaweco, as we all know, likes to do crazy, different stuff every now and then. Like making a pen that looks as if it got thrown out of a plane before being run over by a tank (The Al-Sport stonewashed), a pen that looks pristine for about five seconds (The AlSport Raw) and now this: the Brass sport!

Now the Brass Sport is, in essence, still exactly the same pen as all those other Sport pens I've reviewed in the past. So to keep things interesting, I won't bore you to death with the specs, because I know I've already mentioned those a million times before (Though feel free to check out my other Kaweco reviews if you want to learn more about them!)

What it looked like BEFORE use...

...And after!

The big difference between this, pocket friendly powerhouse, and all the previous versions, is of course the use of a much heavier metal alloy (compared to the, relatively light Aluminium they normally use). This makes for some pretty drastic changes in how it feels in the hand. For me, the extra weight is a clear winner. It feels solid, which is something I've always enjoyed in a pen. And it's actually very well-balanced, which shouldn't be too big of a surprise since it isn't a huge pen, even when posted.

Of course the brass also adds a visual aspect to the experience: When it arrives, it's a relatively boring, bright gold-ish color, but that changes as soon as you start using it. After a few days you can clearly see dark patina will start to form. This aging aspect succeeds in giving this pen a unique and warm character. I didn't really expect to like the look of the patina, but boy, was I wrong on that!

A small detail I immediately noticed when I uncapped it for the first time, is that the cap on the brass sport has a visible plastic ring inside (I know the Al-Sport has this too, but it sits deeper inside the cap, this one actually sits flush with the edge of the cap). Now I can imagine some people would really dislike being able to see this plastic part, but I quite like it for one specific reason: Whereas capping and uncapping the regular Al-Sport pens results in a scratchy metal-on-metal sound, the brass one doesn't because of that plastic ring. I quite like how this small detail makes opening and closing it much smoother and feel almost 'cushioned'.

Now for the last aspect I think really deserves some attention: the nib! I went crazy, and opted for a double broad nib. Knowing that I usually didn't really like Kaweco's wider nibs because of their rather inconsistent performance(A problem other people also experienced)... Living on the edge!

What I got blew my mind though. I expected nothing, but as soon as it touched paper, Iroshizuku Kon-peki started flowing in a way I had NEVER experienced a Kaweco nib before! I stood in awe (Well, I sat down actually...) Admitted, I did floss the tines a bit just to get the flow a bit wetter (it was good out of the box, but I like my nibs just a bit on the wet side). This BB is great, not just ok like I expected. It's extremely smooth, without a doubt the smoothest kaweco nib I ever used. And it has pretty decent flow. You can see in the written review that it does actually get a bit drier after a few lines, however it doesn't actually run dry.

Wether or not the extra weight, and unique looks of the Brass sport are worth the premium is a pretty personal choice of course. I think this could very well be the best Sport pen Kaweco has come up with so far, so for me the price, 70 EUR/ 100 USD (15 EUR/ 20 USD more than the regular Al-Sport) is well-worth it.

Note: this pen was sent to me by Kaweco, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own!